Edvard Grieg composed In the Hall of the Mountain King as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s 1867 play, Peer Gynt.  The tune accompanies a dream sequence where the eponymous hero encounters a court of trolls, gnomes, and goblins. 

Grieg described this movement as “something that so reeks of cowpats, ultra-Norwegianism, and ‘to-thyself-be-enough-ness’ that I cannot bear to hear it, though I hope that the irony will make itself felt.”  He intended it as satire that would make any cultured audience recoil in horror.  Unfortunately, audiences routinely lack such sophistication and almost never get the joke.  Instead, the tune has become a staple of orchestral repertoire. 

Now, choirs can also tiptoe through the ultra-Norwegian cowpats, thanks to “meta” lyrics by Charles Anthony Silvestri.  I attempted to keep the arrangement as faithful as possible to Grieg’s original score for the play, even including the lyrics originally sung by the trolls in response to Gynty’s arrival.  Whatever you do, don’t take this piece (or yourself) too seriously.

Pages are missing from the preview pictures, but all pages will be included in the file that you order.

This title is listed as a site-license and includes a conductor’s score, all parts, and vocal scores. Purchase it once and you can make as many copies as needed for ensembles at your institution. This license is non-transferable, so you can’t share your copies with other ensembles, but pricing is always negotiable if you contact me. I just want to share in making great music together!

Please enjoy the premiere performance by the Jacksonville University Choral Union, recorded live on Halloween 2023! We enter the cave at 40:22 in the video below!